A Slippery Slope
by makorraisliterallymylife
Summary: The breakup hit Mako hard. He hurt her. it seemed like he hurts everyone he meets. Mako begins to hate himself, and begins to fall into an unhealthy habit. Makorra One-shot. WARNING: Some content may be triggering to certain viewers.


A cool breeze blew thorough the park. Mako stared down at his rippling reflection in the pond. It'd been a hard week. Coming home from the South Pole wasn't exactly fun. Korra had left him. He still hadn't heard from her. Did she still even want to be friends? He needed to get over her. Move on. But he couldn't deny that he still loved her. He gazed over the pond and spotted a small turtle duck wading in water. He tossed a piece of bread at it. The bread hit the turtle duck square in the face. It quacked at him and swam away. "Well there goes my dream of being a world famous turtle duck whisperer." He heard a loud snort from behind him. Standing there was a girl. Probably about his age. Her face flushed with red. "Sorry. I, just, heard what you said. And I uh, thought, it was funny." She gave him a nervous smile. He smirked slightly. "Thanks." There was a pause. "I uh, like what your wearing." He pointed out. She wore a white button down with a low cut dark green cardigan, chocolate brown pants, and a green headband taming her brown curly hair. "T-thank." She looked down at her clothes. "I got them at Homura's Boutique. You, probably don't shop there. Well, you might, but it's technically for girls. But I guess you could, but you don't seem like that type of person. Well, you could be. But I'm not implying that. Unless you... I, uh. Bye." She turned her head away and began quickly walking away. "Wait." Mako called. "You don't have to go. Come over here." Slowly, the girl turned around, surprised. She sat down on the bench. "I'm Hatsumi, by the way." She held out her hand. "Mako." He shook her hand. "Do you come here often? To the turtle duck pond." She asked. "Nah, not since I was a kid. How 'bout you?" "Yeah, I come to the park a lot. My mom used to bring me on a picnic every week. It was fun. Except for the time we got attacked by a swarm of bumble-flies." She laughed lightly. "But it makes a good story."

Something didn't feel right to him. Not about her, just this. He still wasn't really over Korra. He didn't think he'd ever be. With Asami, it hurt for a little, but it went away. He couldn't stop thinking about Korra. She was always on his mind. "Are you okay?" Hatsumi asked. "I- I'm sorry. You're really sweet, but. I just can't do this."

Mako stumbled off the bench and ran. He ran as fast as he could. He didn't want to hurt anyone else. He dodged through crowds of people. Going anywhere he could to be alone. Finally, he found a small, abandon alley. He ran to the end of it. Broken glass and trash were discarded all around. He slid down the wall, sighing. Too many. He's hurt too many people he loves. Bolin. Asami. Now Korra. All he was, was destruction. Like fire. Anything he touched burned to ashes. He deserved the same. He deserved to feel pain. He almost craved it. He pulled up his sleeve and looked down at his cold, bare wrist.

_Do it. You deserve it._

Mako quickly slashed a dagger of flames across his wrist. He grit his teeth.

Selfish.

_SLASH_

Womanizer.

_SLASH_

Asshole.

_ SLASH_

Douchebag

_SLASH_

Over and over he punished himself. For not being good enough. For not being what they needed. For being himself. Mako leaned back on the wall, catching his breath. His arm was black and red and bloody. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't good either. He pulled his sleeve over it. No one would have to know. If they saw this, they'd all tell him the same. _"Oh Mako. You're a great person even though you lied to the ones you love, cheated on your girlfriend, and broke up with your other girlfriend while she was in the middle of a war."_

He stood up and kicked the trash can next to him. It clanked onto the ground. A sudden wave of vertigo rushed over him. He looked up at the sky and saw it was late afternoon. Slowly, he staggered down the street. The pain was blinding. But he deserved it. He felt he deserved even worse. Finally, he made it to his apartment. He opened the door and caught his breath.

_Not now. Of all the times._

On the couch, sat none other then Korra. "Hey Mako." She looked up at him with a light smile. His hid his arm behind his back. "Wh- What are you doing here?" "I was hanging out with Bolin. He went to go get takeout. I'm just waiting for him now." He leaned on the wall with his other arm. "That's great, okay." She looked at him closer. She could tell he was off. "Are you okay? You seem different." He took a delayed breath. "I'm fine." He winced as a sharp pain shot up his arm. "Let me see your arm." She stood up. "I'm fine, Korra."

"Then let me see your arm." She grabbed his arm. He winced. "Let _go_!" She pulled up his sleeve and gasped. She looked at him, scared and confused. "What happened?!" He didn't reply. Korra dragged him over to the couch and sat him down. She filled a bowl with water and rushed back over to him. "Who did this to you?" "No one." "Mako, don't give me that. Now answer the question. Who did this?" Mako let out a breath. He was caught. "I did this." Her eyes widened. She looked fearful and hurt. "Why?" She choked. He clenched his teeth.

"Because I'm an asshole! That's why!" He stood up in rage.

"Mako, you're not.."

"Don't bullshit me Korra! I'm an asshole and you know it!"

"Mako. You know that's not true. You're a good person."

"Yeah, because such a good person cheats on his girlfriends and hurts them both."

"Enough! Stop it! Just because you've made a few mistakes, doesn't mean you're the worst person in the world. Everyone makes mistakes, but we learn from them and move on. You can't do this to yourself. You have people who love and care about you. What would you do if your brother found out?" "I-" He sighed. "Honestly what did you expect, huh? That you could just hid it and let this get worse? Really Mako, sometimes you can be so stupid." She paused. "Do you realize how much it hurts me to see you like this?" "Why would it hurt you?" She clenched her teeth and looked away, clutching her forehead with her hand. Tears streamed down her face.

"Because I love you dammit!" She sobbed. She grasped his shoulders. "You can't just do this to yourself! Do you realize what this could lead to?!" She cried hysterically. Mako stood there. What was he thinking? "Korra, I'm so sorry. I didn't think-. I didn't know that you'd-." His voice cracked. Korra took a deep breath. "C'mon, let's get you healed." They made their way over to the couch. Korra bent the water over his arm. It turned a bright shimmering blue. It stung at first, but then as soothing, cool feeling rushed over him. He let out a sigh of contentment. Korra gave a little cute smirk. "Feeling better?" "Oh yes." Korra sighed. "You really scared me you know." "I know. I was being stupid. I promise, I will never ever do that again. Ever." Korra finished healing him and put the water back in the bowl. A red blotch stuck where his burns were. "The marks will go away in a few days. Just, try to hid them as best you can." Mako smiled at her. "Thank you, thank you so much for helping me. If you hadn't been here, I probably would've-"

The door burst open. "I'm back! Whose hungry?" Mako quickly pulled his sleeve down. "Hey, Mako. When'd you get here?" Bolin set the food on the coffee table. "A little while ago. We've just been, waiting for you." Bolin gave them an innocent look that he believed them. They broke out the food and began talking and eating. Bolin rambled about a show he was doing. Something about a man who talks to spirits? Mako tried to follow along, but it was hard to understand him when he had food in his mouth. The food was nice. Some noodles with soy sauce mixed with beef, and other vegetables. When the night finally came to an end, Mako was a bit sad Korra was leaving. "So, you wanna meet up again? Maybe at the Air Temple next week?" Korra asked. "Yeah that'd be great!" Bolin said. "Mako? How 'bout you?" "Uh, yeah. Sure. I'd like that." Korra crushed Bolin with a hug, then turned to Mako. She bid him goodbye with a warm embrace.

_Do not doubt yourself. You are more valuable than you believe._

Mako pulled back enough to see her face. "What'd you say?" "Huh? I didn't say anything." She said looking confused.

_Do not let the darkness take hold of you. Cling tight to the light in your life._

He knew that voice. He'd heard it once before. Only once. At Harmonic Convergence. It was Raava.

"Mako." He snapped back to reality. "I gotta go. So, see you soon." She chirped. Slowly, without breaking his gaze, she left the apartment. Mako crawled into bed worn out and sore. The day had drained him. "_Cling tight to the light in your life._" The words echoed in his head, over and over. The light in his life. There was no question on what that was. Or, who that was. He needed to cling to it. And never let her go.

* * *

**A/N: This is dedicated to all of the people who hate Mako. I have always loved him and I can't stand it when people bag on him for no reason. Or a bad reason. I wrote this to show that he's a good character, who made bad decisions. Is what he did right? No. Did he apologize? Yes. Does it make it better? Not entirely, but like I said. He's still a good person.**


End file.
